Matthew A. Everett

Matthew A. Everett is a playwright and three-time recipient of support from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Matthew serves on the board for Workhouse Theatre Company, helps moderate their new play reading series The Greenhouse Project the second Tuesday of every month, and acts as the company's playwright-in-residence. His "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" drama Leave was #1 on Lavender Magazine's Top 10 List for Theater in 2011. Summer 2015 will be his lucky 13th year blogging about the Minnesota Fringe Festival in particular, as well as theater in general, so he should probably seek professional help. Excerpts of Matthew's plays and other writings can be found at matthewaeverett.com and at lulu.com/spotlight/matthewaeverett

This past spring at Billy Mullaney’s Uncreativity Festival, the audience was treated to a lot of shorts, but also a few tantalizing excerpts of much longer works. Having whetted the audience’s appetite for more, Mullaney brings back two of those pieces in longer form – visiting Seattle performer Erin Pike presenting a new iteration of That’swhatshesaid, and Mullaney’s ongoing exploration of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. “There’s only one in this wonderful world. You are special.”

Both pieces engage in the use of appropriated text. Pike, in collaboration with playwright Courtney Meaker and director HATLO (yes, that’s her name, all caps), is taking lines out of the mouths of female characters in the most-produced plays of the 2014-2015 theater season (a list compiled annually by the Theater Communications Group [TCG]). Hence, the title That’swhatshesaid. Their first stab at this last year used the 2013-2014 most-produced plays list, which turned out to be a bit of an outlier. That list of 12 plays was split equally down the middle between male and female playwrights, six and six. The just completed theater season reverts more to form, which is to say less representation and production of women playwrights. So the lens on female characters is a decidedly male one. This version is still a work in progress but a very intriguing one. The first section is the female characters in plays written by men. The, decidedly shorter, second section is the female characters in the plays written by women. Taking the lines – and related stage directions – for the women as the raw material for this piece makes for a very illuminating portrait of the state of women onstage in modern theater. “She enters.”

The most produced plays last year were: Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang; Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley; Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon; Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz; Around the World In 80 Days, adapted by Mark Brown and Toby Hulse from the novel by Jules Verne; Peter and the Starcatcher, adapted by Rick Elice from Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson; The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez; Into The Woods, book by James Lapine, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Venus In Fur by David Ives. The two women who break into the top 11 are: Nina Raine’s play Tribes; and Amy Herzog’s play 4,000 Miles. From these 11 plays, there were 74 roles total. 31 of these roles were written for women. Of the 31 female roles, six were written for women by women. That’s a daunting place to start. It’s even more daunting when you start to hear some of the dialogue (and descriptions) that men write for women. I’m sure they don’t mean to be insulting, but when you hear them out of their original context – all lined up together – it’s kind of mind-blowing. “Is she a molecule, or a TV weather person?”

While I found it a fascinating exercise in deconstructing a portrait of today’s theater scene, the actress friend next to me when the lights came up simply said, “Well, now I’m depressed.” On the flip side, as a writer, I was thinking, “I need to write more (better) roles for women.” But that wouldn’t really help the larger problem – which is more representation by women playwrights, who know the subject a little more intimately and can bring some much needed nuance and complexity to the table. Right now, the portrait of women on stage that’s up for mass consumption by theater audiences is in need of some balance. Continue Reading

Even though Les Kurkendaal lives in California, it feels like it wouldn’t be a complete Minnesota Fringe Festival without him on the schedule. We’re lucky the lottery ping pong balls roll out in his favor, and that he loves our Fringe so much that he just keeps coming back. He’s also a reliable favorite for my Mom each year. “Lil Wayne, I just want to let you know I love your work.”

But after seeing so many Fringe shows with so many stories from different corners of Les’ life – like the time his white boyfriend took him home to meet the family for Christmas, but didn’t mention ahead of time that Les was black; or the time his boyfriend took Les to his high school reunion, but neglected to inform his classmates ahead of time that he was gay; Les’ coming out story and the difficulties it posed in his relationship with his father; alcoholism; body issues; Les’ mother’s dementia and memory loss – after seeing all that, what other stories could Les have up his sleeve? “I’m a New Yorker. I can have an orgasm and a minor medical emergency at the same time.”

Seems Les was wondering about that himself – hence, his new show Coffee, Tea or Me, an existential crisis (which as Fringe Executive Director Jeff Larson rightly quipped during the traveling artists preview showcase the night before Fringe opened, would be a horrible title for a show, if it were done by anyone but Les Kurkendaal). “Wow, they’re awfully nice for racists.”

I honestly wasn’t sure going in whether I was going to take to this show. The premise seemed to be that Les was doing a show about the fact that he didn’t have an idea for a show. That meta “struggles of the artist” thing normally is the exact opposite of the sort of thing I find entertaining. Also, to switch things up, Les is sharing the stage with another storyteller with a very different way of telling stories, Marlene Nichols. Les and Marlene alternate telling their stories and the framework establishes that Les, on a road trip from California to Minnesota, trying to shake off the malaise he’s found himself in, decides to save himself from the endless repetitive drone of Top 40 radio by tuning in to NPR, finding it on the dial as he crosses into each new state. Marlene is the voice and storytelling of NPR. Les is, well, Les. “Like La Boheme. Minus the consumption. Also the hot boyfriend.”

Les is reminded on his journey of what got him into acting in the first place, of his very first Fringe show (in a country on the other side of the world), of a friend’s near death experience and the party of friends that saved him, and finds himself not the target of prejudice at a questionable truck stop but the one unexpectedly dishing it out to others. Meanwhile on NPR, Marlene – quite often appearing in a fabulous gown of some sort – regales us with stories tailor-made for the kind of NPR listener that lives on the fortunate side of the white privilege divide (not that there’s anything wrong with that). There’s a tale of a young woman living on her own for the first time, in Paris, with a limited grasp of the language. There’s a meditation on how the romantic ideals of a five year old do – and don’t – change as she searches for Prince Charming in a modern day world of ordinary men. And, going a more familiar, Les Kurkendaal sort of route, there’s a portrait of a colorful mother, and the often exasperated daughter who needs to make her peace with her. Continue Reading

Tweet Review – Confessions Of A Butter Princess – People turning into butter, talking cows – I liked it but I’m still not sure why – 3 stars

“You’re overthinking it,” my mother assured me. We’d both just seen Little Lifeboats’ Fringe show Confessions Of A Butter Princess, or Why The Cow Jumped Over The Moon. I had them on my Top 10 list this year because I really admire the work this company does, particularly with new plays. And their in-house playwright (also the playwright here on Confessions) Abby Swafford serves up comedy in mind-bending ways I find fascinating and engaging (see Parhelion or Raise Your Voice (Suzanne Cross), or That F**king Harriet Tubman Play as examples). “That cat and that fiddle were not innocents!”

I was apparently psyching myself out on Butter Princess. Mom had no such problem. “You’re looking for more here when there probably isn’t any. It’s just a goofy Fringe show about a queen (Erin Denman) on another planet who’s being pursued by three young butter princesses (Alana Horton, Briana Patnode, and Madelyne Riley) who actually turn into butter, and there’s a talking cow (Hector Edwardo Chavarria) she helps to set free. That’s it. Just enjoy it for the strange little thing that it is.”

“Hide me, please!”
“We’re in the round.”

Good advice. Since, as a non-native Minnesota transplant, I have trouble understanding the whole butter princess tradition at the state fair anyway, it might as well be some alien ritual set on another planet (though, it does seem as if there is at least a suggested relationship to the Minnesota origins of the whole thing – it’s just that when these young ladies win the crown, they also win a one way trip into space.)

“Of course I’m going to help her. I’m not an animal.”

Chavarria is a real scene stealer as the flamboyant cow (and I’m not just saying that because he flirted with me – and so many others – in the audience). (In a nod to the whole “Cecil the Lion” controversy, the cow also wondered aloud if a less friendly looking man in the audience liked to hunt – “Are you a dentist?”)

“You tried to kill me once.”
“Trust is a fickle thing.”

Director Chris Garza and his cast embrace the weirdness of the script and create this strange little world of butter princess revolution. The final transformation of the princesses into butter was a delightfully creepy bit of costuming magic from producer Victoria Pyan. The princesses just get more progressively yellow until finally we have them all in blond wigs, creamy bright yellow suit jackets, gloves, and unnerving blank masks, also in bright yellow. It’s a very vivid final image for them. “Dearest cow, does the unending blackness scare you?”

So I’ll take mom’s advice and just relax. Confessions of a Butter Princess was just supposed to be a lark. And so it is. 3 stars – Recommended Continue Reading

Seems I’ve just been seeing the wrong Christy Marie Kent Fringe shows until now. Though Kent is an award winning storyteller, her performance style back in 2012 when I was intrigued enough by her preview for Moonshine, Madness and Murder to drop in and see the full show, left me a little underwhelmed. To be fair, each of her first Fringe shows (both dealing with moonshine and cloistered monks and nuns) were test-driving material for her upcoming novel, so they weren’t meant to be either strictly theatrical in nature, or even ideal presentations as storytelling or spoken word. Kent decided to use the Fringe as a laboratory to fine-tune her material, and if that’s how she wanted to spend her money, good for her. For whatever reason, be it subject matter or presentation, it wasn’t really grabbing me, so I sat the next couple of Kent shows out. “Few people carry around as much baggage as trans folks with wives and kids.”

As luck would have it, I got out just as things probably got interesting. Kent’s next two Fringe shows began to deal with her own story of transitioning as a transgender woman. While this year’s low-key Fringe preview of her latest offering, Trans Families, still didn’t grab me, the subject matter of the show did – families in which the father reveals to the family that from birth they’d always felt as if they’d been placed in the wrong body, and so began their transition to living new lives as women. These weren’t Kent’s own stories, but were nonetheless true stories of other transgender people and their families transforming as identities shifted. Kent is collecting these tales for a non-fiction book about transitioning parents with children. “I’ve been a trucker for 20 years, but a woman for less than 10.”

The thing that got me in the door to see Trans Families was the addition to the cast of Erica Fields reading the role of Danielle, a trucker and father who risks losing everything, including his marriage and family, in order to be true to she really was. (In the interests of full disclosure, Fields performed the role of the transgender minister in the Minnesota premiere of my play But Not For Love a few years back. That’s how I know what a good actress she is, and she brought that same vitality and talent to liven up Trans Families.)

“Relationships are like diesel engines.”

Kent read the role of Jamie, formerly Jimmy, who adopted a child prior to transitioning, and also found herself on the verge of losing her wife and family on the journey to finding herself. Kent’s soft-spoken delivery works in the context of the larger show in a way it didn’t quite land in the preview. Her acting chops, though still a work in progress, have improved since I saw her last. “You might have been Daniel at one time, but all I see is Danielle.”

The church, the law and extended family all apply pressure in the stories of Danielle and Jamie, fueling intolerance that drives both women to the brink of suicide. But since they’re alive to tell the tale, you know that some twist of fortune reels them back in again. Life is persistent, and full of surprises. Continue Reading

Every year I clear out the past year’s top 10 to make room for ten more promising acts I’m excited to see. For the 2015 Minnesota Fringe Festival, they are:

1 – FurTrader Productions – Confessions of a Delinquent Cheerleader

Who were you in High School? Hear true stories of a reformed cheerleader/bad girl at a private school back in the late 1980s. At times hilarious, at times tragic, she shares her “glory days” for all to judge. I was already fairly sure this was going to be one great comedic solo show, just by virtue of the fact that Mame Pelletier is involved. That fact that it’s her script and her story only reinforced that instinct. Her Fringe preview made it clear I would not be allowed to even entertain doubts about this one. It’s going to be a heck of a lot of fun. Can’t wait. 2 – Little Lifeboats – Confessions of a Butter Princess or Why The Cow Jumped Over The Moon

On the planet Ceres, Alex, a Cow, and a Queen are trying to escape the wrath of the Princess Kay Chorus. Continue Reading

They don’t hand out the programs until *after* Fire Drill’s latest production, Novelty Shots: A Political Fantasy, is over. It’s deliberate, but I’m still not entirely sure why. Do they not want to spoil the surprise? What is the surprise? Is any review like this one just going to be a massive pile of spoilers? Is it even possible to spoil this show? Continue Reading

Let’s get this out of the way right up front. You should go see Theatre Unbound’s production of Hamlet because you should see Kathryn Fumie in the title role. Not because it’s a woman playing Hamlet. Because it’s a great actor playing Hamlet. Just like every Hamlet I’ve seen over the years, in good productions and bad, the problem with Hamlet is never the actor playing Hamlet. Continue Reading

I had the pleasure of seeing the original War With The Newts back in 2007 when Sandbox Theatre first tackled the Karel Capek science fiction novel, so I knew this reimagined revival was also bound to be a lot of fun. In a way, Capek’s tale is not your standard sci fi cautionary tale. Normally, you’d use the race of newts as a stand-in for human behavior and the audience would have just enough distance from themselves to be able to see the pitfalls of the newts’ way of dealing with one another. Here though, the newts are addressing us in the audience as fellow newts, using human beings themselves as the cautionary tale, putting on masks in order to imitate human beings and just making the whole thing a lot harder to ignore as a straightforward indictment of human folly. “No sensible man has any business going to Devil Bay.”

Sandbox Theatre as a company has also been evolving over the eight years since this story last hit the stage, and it shows in this new improved version of War With The Newts. Continue Reading

One of the reasons I was looking forward to the first year of ARTshare programming at the Southern Theater was the inclusion of dance companies in the mix of resident artists. After all, the Southern is a great venue in which to see dance, and I don’t see enough dance outside of the Minnesota Fringe Festival each year. I figured having access to regular programming by dance companies already slotted into my schedule would get me out of my habit of only managing to see dance for one week in August. I knew of Black Label Movement, but I hadn’t actually seen one of their shows. Their latest presentation, The Illumination, made me take a closer look at their name. Continue Reading

20% Theatre Company has saved the best for last in this year’s Q-Stage. The red-nose clowns of Femme Cabaret: A Clown Burlesque and the angry dancers of Gifts of Set C couldn’t be more different in style or tone but together they make for a perfect evening of theater. Of course, you should see all the Q-Stage offerings this year, but if you can only fit one into your schedule, it should be Set C. Absolutely delightful from start to finish (and that includes the part where one of the performers attacks the audience – no, I’m not kidding.)

“I’m the ME in Femme.”

Creator/performer Shannon Forney calls Femme Cabaret “a playful romp on queer femme identity from the awkward center of a Red Nose Clown” and I can’t come up with a better summary statement than that. Shannon’s clown alter ego is Naughty Dottie, and with the help of her red-nosed partners in crime Charming (Emma Buechs) and Swish (Jacob Miller), she guides us through a whole quirky catalog of embarrassments and near misses as she attempts to understand the femme identity’s place in a queer culture. As an audience member, I was so charmed and bemused by Dottie’s misadventures that I didn’t realize until it was over that I’d actually been thinking quite a lot about the notion of identity, gender roles, and the sneaky enemy of conformity (a trap we all fall into, even as we try to set ourselves apart). Continue Reading

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Learn traditional Somali dances, like the Jaandheer, in a workshop led by the Somali Museum Dance Troupe. Meaning big leap or step, Jaandheer originates in northern Somalia and

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Learn traditional Somali dances, like the Jaandheer, in a workshop led by the Somali Museum Dance Troupe. Meaning big leap or step, Jaandheer originates in northern Somalia and is danced at most Somali weddings and festive occasions.

The Somali Museum Dance Troupe studies and performs traditional dances from all regions of Somalia. Comprised of teens and young adults from the greater Twin Cities area, the troupe has performed for countless corporate, private and public events across Minnesota, North Dakota, Virginia, Ohio, and Texas.

This dance workshop is appropriate for all ages and is offered in conjunction with the exhibit Somalis + Minnesota.

Support for this program has been provided by the Marney and Conley Brooks Fund.

Over the years, Minnesota and the Twin Cities have been shaped by many diverse immigrant populations. In the new banner exhibit, “Green Card Voices: Immigrants Telling Their Life Stories,” visitors can learn about the lives of people from 22 different countries—from Bangladesh to Cameroon to Bosnia and Herzegovina—who now live in Minnesota.

The participants represent a diverse range of professions and ages and arrived in Minnesota through many immigration routes—including as refugees, DACA recipients and through family reunification—but they all share one important trait: They now call the Twin Cities home.

In this exhibit in the Minnesota History Center’s free Irvine Community Gallery, visitors can view photographs of each immigrant and read bios of their unique stories. Then scan a QR code on a phone or another device to see first-person videos of each participant discussing their immigration experiences.

This exhibit was created by the Twin Cities nonprofit Green Card Voices. Its mission is to share personal narratives of America’s immigrants, fostering tolerance and establishing a better understanding between the immigrant and non-immigrant populations.

On Tuesday, March 19 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., the Minnesota History Center and Green Card Voices will hold a free opening reception to celebrate the exhibit. The night will include performances by local immigrant artists, including cellist Nickolai Kolarov, and Tea Rozman-Clark, co-founder and executive director of Green Card Voices, will discuss her work. Other Twin Cities organizations will also be present to share their work supporting local immigrant communities.

Over the years, Minnesota and the Twin Cities have been shaped by many diverse immigrant populations. In the new banner exhibit, “Green Card Voices: Immigrants Telling Their Life Stories,” visitors can learn about the lives of people from 22 different countries—from Bangladesh to Cameroon to Bosnia and Herzegovina—who now live in Minnesota.

The participants represent a diverse range of professions and ages and arrived in Minnesota through many immigration routes—including as refugees, DACA recipients and through family reunification—but they all share one important trait: They now call the Twin Cities home.

In this exhibit in the Minnesota History Center’s free Irvine Community Gallery, visitors can view photographs of each immigrant and read bios of their unique stories. Then scan a QR code on a phone or another device to see first-person videos of each participant discussing their immigration experiences.

This exhibit was created by the Twin Cities nonprofit Green Card Voices. Its mission is to share personal narratives of America’s immigrants, fostering tolerance and establishing a better understanding between the immigrant and non-immigrant populations.

On Tuesday, March 19 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., the Minnesota History Center and Green Card Voices will hold a free opening reception to celebrate the exhibit. The night will include performances by local immigrant artists, including cellist Nickolai Kolarov, and Tea Rozman-Clark, co-founder and executive director of Green Card Voices, will discuss her work. Other Twin Cities organizations will also be present to share their work supporting local immigrant communities.

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The award-winning Saint Paul Farmers’ Market will open its outdoor Lowertown location for the season on Saturday, April 27 and will be open weekends through November 24. Hours will be 7 a.m.

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The award-winning Saint Paul Farmers’ Market will open its outdoor Lowertown location for the season on Saturday, April 27 and will be open weekends through November 24. Hours will be 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. In addition to an abundance of fresh, local, seasonal produce, shoppers will find healthful dairy and meat products, eggs, baked goods, honey from local hives, small-batch packaged foods and beverages, plant-based apothecary goods, and an array of flowers and plants from Minnesota growers. On opening day, April 27, free coffee will be offered to visitors from 7:00-8:00 a.m.

The Market will also host chef pairings at a monthly pop-up kitchen organized by restauranteur and Market collaborator Tim McKee at which two chefs who don’t work together will team up to prepare foods using the Market vendors’ produce and foods to create dishes to sell. There will also be art and educational activities for kids, demos on topics such as food preservation and native gardening, and many other community events celebrating the Minnesota growers and makers that add beauty and bounty to the Twin Cities. Visitors will also be able to nosh on an array of foods cooked onsite by vendors including Golden’s Bagel Stand, operated by the family that owned the beloved Golden’s Deli.

“We stand in strong support of Minnesota small-ag and the farm families who comprise it,” said David Kotsonas, executive director of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market. “Farmers Markets increase both the community’s access to the freshest and most nutritious foods, and the opportunities for local, independent food producers to succeed. We are committed to our growers and only offer locally grown produce and locally made foods and we are proud of the wide variety of quality foods available at our Markets, and are always looking to expand upon that variety.”

The Saint Paul Farmers’ Market opened more than 150 years ago and has become one of the most respected farmers’ markets in the Upper Midwest. The Saint Paul Growers’ Association, Inc., which operates the Market, allows only fresh, locally grown produce to be sold, directly from the grower to the consumer, making it unique among many farmers’ markets. The baked goods, artisan foods, confections and other products offered are produced locally or regionally as well.

Some of the Market’s vendors have sold there for many generations, such as the Gerten family that’s been involved since the late 1800s. Hmong immigrants Phoua Thao and Wang Ger Hang began selling their produce at the Market in 1991 and now their children and grandchildren are also involved in the family business. Daughter Pakou Hang is the co-founder of the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA)and her parents grow 40 different kinds of produce on 10 acres on the HAFA Farm, which they helped found in 2011 in Dakota County. The Market also features newer growers such as Nick Robinson of R & R Cultivation who began growing mushrooms last year in a 3’x3’ canvas closet and now offers many varieties including shiitake, oyster, lion’s mane and others, and whose business has grown exponentially in one year’s time. Rachael KraMer of My Goodness! Kombucha creates beverages and apothecary goods using unpasteurized kombucha made of local ingredients including herbs from her garden and she offers those and kombucha starter (SCOBY) at the Market.

In addition to the weekend downtown Saint Paul location, the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market operates neighborhood Markets in Roseville, Rosemount, Andover, Maplewood, Lakeville, South Saint Paul, West Saint Paul, Vadnais Heights, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Woodbury, Savage, and Inver Grove Heights. There are also weekday markets at Securian, 7th Place and St. Thomas More in Saint Paul. The neighborhood markets will open in May and June and will operate into the fall. A Union Depot location will open in the fall. For a complete schedule and locations, visit http://www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com/index.php/locations.

Another unique aspect of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market is a deep commitment to giving back to the community. Each Sunday during the growing season, the downtown outdoor Market donates unsold produce from the growers to the Neighborhood House food bank, averaging 8,000 pounds of produce each month. That location also offers nonprofits the opportunity to be at the Market to promote the work they do, and the neighborhood markets support nonprofits in their communities, too. The Market’s philanthropic focus is an area that Kotsonas and his team are growing, with new programs that foster greater community engagement and ways of giving back in each of the neighborhoods where the Markets are located.

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Event Details

The award-winning Saint Paul Farmers’ Market will open its outdoor Lowertown location for the season on Saturday, April 27 and will be open weekends through November 24. Hours will be 7 a.m.

more

Event Details

The award-winning Saint Paul Farmers’ Market will open its outdoor Lowertown location for the season on Saturday, April 27 and will be open weekends through November 24. Hours will be 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. In addition to an abundance of fresh, local, seasonal produce, shoppers will find healthful dairy and meat products, eggs, baked goods, honey from local hives, small-batch packaged foods and beverages, plant-based apothecary goods, and an array of flowers and plants from Minnesota growers. On opening day, April 27, free coffee will be offered to visitors from 7:00-8:00 a.m.

The Market will also host chef pairings at a monthly pop-up kitchen organized by restauranteur and Market collaborator Tim McKee at which two chefs who don’t work together will team up to prepare foods using the Market vendors’ produce and foods to create dishes to sell. There will also be art and educational activities for kids, demos on topics such as food preservation and native gardening, and many other community events celebrating the Minnesota growers and makers that add beauty and bounty to the Twin Cities. Visitors will also be able to nosh on an array of foods cooked onsite by vendors including Golden’s Bagel Stand, operated by the family that owned the beloved Golden’s Deli.

“We stand in strong support of Minnesota small-ag and the farm families who comprise it,” said David Kotsonas, executive director of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market. “Farmers Markets increase both the community’s access to the freshest and most nutritious foods, and the opportunities for local, independent food producers to succeed. We are committed to our growers and only offer locally grown produce and locally made foods and we are proud of the wide variety of quality foods available at our Markets, and are always looking to expand upon that variety.”

The Saint Paul Farmers’ Market opened more than 150 years ago and has become one of the most respected farmers’ markets in the Upper Midwest. The Saint Paul Growers’ Association, Inc., which operates the Market, allows only fresh, locally grown produce to be sold, directly from the grower to the consumer, making it unique among many farmers’ markets. The baked goods, artisan foods, confections and other products offered are produced locally or regionally as well.

Some of the Market’s vendors have sold there for many generations, such as the Gerten family that’s been involved since the late 1800s. Hmong immigrants Phoua Thao and Wang Ger Hang began selling their produce at the Market in 1991 and now their children and grandchildren are also involved in the family business. Daughter Pakou Hang is the co-founder of the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA)and her parents grow 40 different kinds of produce on 10 acres on the HAFA Farm, which they helped found in 2011 in Dakota County. The Market also features newer growers such as Nick Robinson of R & R Cultivation who began growing mushrooms last year in a 3’x3’ canvas closet and now offers many varieties including shiitake, oyster, lion’s mane and others, and whose business has grown exponentially in one year’s time. Rachael KraMer of My Goodness! Kombucha creates beverages and apothecary goods using unpasteurized kombucha made of local ingredients including herbs from her garden and she offers those and kombucha starter (SCOBY) at the Market.

In addition to the weekend downtown Saint Paul location, the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market operates neighborhood Markets in Roseville, Rosemount, Andover, Maplewood, Lakeville, South Saint Paul, West Saint Paul, Vadnais Heights, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Woodbury, Savage, and Inver Grove Heights. There are also weekday markets at Securian, 7th Place and St. Thomas More in Saint Paul. The neighborhood markets will open in May and June and will operate into the fall. A Union Depot location will open in the fall. For a complete schedule and locations, visit http://www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com/index.php/locations.

Another unique aspect of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market is a deep commitment to giving back to the community. Each Sunday during the growing season, the downtown outdoor Market donates unsold produce from the growers to the Neighborhood House food bank, averaging 8,000 pounds of produce each month. That location also offers nonprofits the opportunity to be at the Market to promote the work they do, and the neighborhood markets support nonprofits in their communities, too. The Market’s philanthropic focus is an area that Kotsonas and his team are growing, with new programs that foster greater community engagement and ways of giving back in each of the neighborhoods where the Markets are located.

Organizer

Event Details

This first-time coproduction between two theaters with deep cultural legacies will not only join audiences, but diverse communities.
Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu announce the regional premiere of The Brothers Paranormal,

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This first-time coproduction between two theaters with deep cultural legacies will not only join audiences, but diverse communities.

The Brothers Paranormal is scintillating thriller that follows two Thai brothers who launch a business to investigate paranormal activities. When they investigate the home of an African-American couple displaced by Hurricane Katrina, their notions of reality and fantasy clash against the shocking truth.

Directed by Lou Bellamy with Sun Mee Chomet assisting, Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu combine their commitment to artistic excellence to tell a story that is both entertaining and rich in cultural authenticity. Witty and haunting, the play explores the intersection of migration, displacement, and mental health. Says playwright Prince Gomolvilas, “The play’s intersection of genre and race, as well as the exploration of the spirit realm in a country that’s doing some deep soul-searching, is what drives my passion for this project. All of my research explores the play’s disparate themes: the trauma of displacement (from one’s country of origin, from post-Katrina New Orleans, from the corporeal world); the high incidence of mental health issues among Asian immigrants; and the different ways in which people cope with incredible loss.”

As part of their partnership, Penumbra and Mu are hosting Ghost Stories in the Park on May 12th and 19th from 6 to 8pm at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center Park at 271 Mackubin St in St. Paul. Neighbors of all ages are invited to hear ghost stories from Asian and African traditions. Sebastian Joe’s will be giving away free ice cream, including a special flavor called The Brothers Paranormal in honor of this special partnership between Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu.

“I’m so happy to bring together two esteemed, legacy organizations of color with deep, trusted, and authentic connections to our respective communities. Penumbra and Theater Mu have invested years in building our partnership and we are proud to see the efforts of that work shared publicly with The Brothers Paranormal. And, we are honored to welcome a phenomenal creative team to enliven this thrilling, dark comedy by Prince Gomolvilas. This one is not to be missed!” – Sarah Bellamy, Artistic Director Penumbra Theatre

“Noting the increased collaboration between individual artists from our respective companies we at Theater Mu are thrilled to be collaborating with Penumbra on a full production of Prince’s exciting intercultural piece. It’s been said that ‘art is the highest form of hope.’ Just as the characters in THE BROTHERS PARANORMAL discover, our hope at Mu is that communities and companies of color can look to this production as a sterling example of just how much our journeys are enriched by one another’s presence.” – Eric Sharp, Theater Mu Artistic Advisory Committee

Prince Gomolvilas is best known as the world’s only Thai-American playwright. (He challenges you to find another!) He frequently writes comedies with a supernatural twist, along with the occasional drama to shake things up a bit. Recurring themes include the contemporary Asian-American (and, specifically, Thai-American) experience, the tension between immigrants and their offspring, the intersection of ethnicity and sexual identity, race relations in the United States, the trauma of displacement, the nature of loss and grief, and, in the words of Erasure, “the infinite complexities of love. His work has been produced around the United States, as well as in Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Singapore. Companies and venues include Singapore Repertory Theatre, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, East West Players, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, INTAR Theatre, International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, King’s Head Theatre, New Conservatory Theatre Center, and more.

Lou Bellamy, Director

Lou Bellamy is the Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Penumbra Theatre, an Obie Award-winning stage director, and taught for 35 years as an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota. Select Penumbra credits: Two Trains Running, I Wish You Love (The Kennedy Center), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Two Old Black Guys Just Sitting Around Talking (National Black Theatre Festival), A Raisin in the Sun and Gem of the Ocean. Other: Radio Golf (Indiana Repertory Theatre and Cleveland Play House); Two Trains Running (Signature Theatre Company and Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Jitney (Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Arizona Theatre Company); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (The Kennedy Center).

Sun Mee Chomet, Assistant Director

Sun Mee Chomet is a St. Paul-based actor, dancer and playwright. As an actor, Sun Mee has worked with the Guthrie Theater (Burial at Thebes, Macbeth, Tony Kushner’s world premiere: The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Naomi Iizuka’s world premiere: After 100 Years); Mu Performing Arts (WTF, Cowboy vs. Samurai, Asiamnesia, Circle Around the Island, Mask Dance); History Theater (100 Men’s Wife); Penumbra Theater (for colored girls…) and many other theaters locally and nationally. As a playwright, Sun Mee’s first play, Asiamnesia, was voted Best New Script of 2008 by Minneapolis Star Tribune. Her most recent one-woman show, How to Be a Korean Woman, will begin touring in 2013-2014. Sun Mee received her M.F.A. in Acting from New York Univeristy’s Tisch School of the Arts and her B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Earlham College.

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Dramaturg

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is a Lao American writer. She was born in a refugee camp in Nongkhai, Thailand and immigrated to Minnesota in 1984. Because of her unique background, her work is focused on creating tools and spaces for the amplification of refugee voices through poetry, theater, and experimental cultural production. Her plays have been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Theater Mu, Consortium of Asian American Theater Artists, and Theater Unbound. She is a Playwright’s Center and Theater Mu fellow in playwriting, a Loft Literary Center fellow in poetry, a Loft Literary Center fellow in children’s and young adult literature, a Twin Cities Media Alliance fellow in public art, and an Aspen Ideas Bush Foundation scholar. Her poetry, essays, plays, and short stories can be found in the Asian American Literary Review, Massachusetts Review, Jungle Azn Magazine, Rubin Museums’ Spiral Magazine, Journal for Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, Saint Paul Almanac, as well as on coffee sleeves (Coffee House Press) and on metro transit (Saint Paul Almanac).

DESCRIPTION

A Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu co-production

Prince Gomolvilas’THE BROTHERS PARANORMAL
Directed by Lou Bellamy

In response to a nationwide increase in sightings of “Asian- looking ghosts,” two entrepreneurial Thai-American brothers launch a ghost-hunting business. When the siblings investigate the home of an African American couple displaced by Hurricane Katrina, what’s real and what’s fantasy clash against a shocking truth. This witty and haunting story is brought to you in partnership by Theater Mu and Penumbra Theatre.

Event Details

This first-time coproduction between two theaters with deep cultural legacies will not only join audiences, but diverse communities.
Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu announce the regional premiere of The Brothers Paranormal,

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Event Details

This first-time coproduction between two theaters with deep cultural legacies will not only join audiences, but diverse communities.

The Brothers Paranormal is scintillating thriller that follows two Thai brothers who launch a business to investigate paranormal activities. When they investigate the home of an African-American couple displaced by Hurricane Katrina, their notions of reality and fantasy clash against the shocking truth.

Directed by Lou Bellamy with Sun Mee Chomet assisting, Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu combine their commitment to artistic excellence to tell a story that is both entertaining and rich in cultural authenticity. Witty and haunting, the play explores the intersection of migration, displacement, and mental health. Says playwright Prince Gomolvilas, “The play’s intersection of genre and race, as well as the exploration of the spirit realm in a country that’s doing some deep soul-searching, is what drives my passion for this project. All of my research explores the play’s disparate themes: the trauma of displacement (from one’s country of origin, from post-Katrina New Orleans, from the corporeal world); the high incidence of mental health issues among Asian immigrants; and the different ways in which people cope with incredible loss.”

As part of their partnership, Penumbra and Mu are hosting Ghost Stories in the Park on May 12th and 19th from 6 to 8pm at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center Park at 271 Mackubin St in St. Paul. Neighbors of all ages are invited to hear ghost stories from Asian and African traditions. Sebastian Joe’s will be giving away free ice cream, including a special flavor called The Brothers Paranormal in honor of this special partnership between Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu.

“I’m so happy to bring together two esteemed, legacy organizations of color with deep, trusted, and authentic connections to our respective communities. Penumbra and Theater Mu have invested years in building our partnership and we are proud to see the efforts of that work shared publicly with The Brothers Paranormal. And, we are honored to welcome a phenomenal creative team to enliven this thrilling, dark comedy by Prince Gomolvilas. This one is not to be missed!” – Sarah Bellamy, Artistic Director Penumbra Theatre

“Noting the increased collaboration between individual artists from our respective companies we at Theater Mu are thrilled to be collaborating with Penumbra on a full production of Prince’s exciting intercultural piece. It’s been said that ‘art is the highest form of hope.’ Just as the characters in THE BROTHERS PARANORMAL discover, our hope at Mu is that communities and companies of color can look to this production as a sterling example of just how much our journeys are enriched by one another’s presence.” – Eric Sharp, Theater Mu Artistic Advisory Committee

Prince Gomolvilas is best known as the world’s only Thai-American playwright. (He challenges you to find another!) He frequently writes comedies with a supernatural twist, along with the occasional drama to shake things up a bit. Recurring themes include the contemporary Asian-American (and, specifically, Thai-American) experience, the tension between immigrants and their offspring, the intersection of ethnicity and sexual identity, race relations in the United States, the trauma of displacement, the nature of loss and grief, and, in the words of Erasure, “the infinite complexities of love. His work has been produced around the United States, as well as in Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Singapore. Companies and venues include Singapore Repertory Theatre, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, East West Players, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, INTAR Theatre, International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, King’s Head Theatre, New Conservatory Theatre Center, and more.

Lou Bellamy, Director

Lou Bellamy is the Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Penumbra Theatre, an Obie Award-winning stage director, and taught for 35 years as an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota. Select Penumbra credits: Two Trains Running, I Wish You Love (The Kennedy Center), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Two Old Black Guys Just Sitting Around Talking (National Black Theatre Festival), A Raisin in the Sun and Gem of the Ocean. Other: Radio Golf (Indiana Repertory Theatre and Cleveland Play House); Two Trains Running (Signature Theatre Company and Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Jitney (Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Arizona Theatre Company); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (The Kennedy Center).

Sun Mee Chomet, Assistant Director

Sun Mee Chomet is a St. Paul-based actor, dancer and playwright. As an actor, Sun Mee has worked with the Guthrie Theater (Burial at Thebes, Macbeth, Tony Kushner’s world premiere: The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Naomi Iizuka’s world premiere: After 100 Years); Mu Performing Arts (WTF, Cowboy vs. Samurai, Asiamnesia, Circle Around the Island, Mask Dance); History Theater (100 Men’s Wife); Penumbra Theater (for colored girls…) and many other theaters locally and nationally. As a playwright, Sun Mee’s first play, Asiamnesia, was voted Best New Script of 2008 by Minneapolis Star Tribune. Her most recent one-woman show, How to Be a Korean Woman, will begin touring in 2013-2014. Sun Mee received her M.F.A. in Acting from New York Univeristy’s Tisch School of the Arts and her B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Earlham College.

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Dramaturg

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is a Lao American writer. She was born in a refugee camp in Nongkhai, Thailand and immigrated to Minnesota in 1984. Because of her unique background, her work is focused on creating tools and spaces for the amplification of refugee voices through poetry, theater, and experimental cultural production. Her plays have been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Theater Mu, Consortium of Asian American Theater Artists, and Theater Unbound. She is a Playwright’s Center and Theater Mu fellow in playwriting, a Loft Literary Center fellow in poetry, a Loft Literary Center fellow in children’s and young adult literature, a Twin Cities Media Alliance fellow in public art, and an Aspen Ideas Bush Foundation scholar. Her poetry, essays, plays, and short stories can be found in the Asian American Literary Review, Massachusetts Review, Jungle Azn Magazine, Rubin Museums’ Spiral Magazine, Journal for Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, Saint Paul Almanac, as well as on coffee sleeves (Coffee House Press) and on metro transit (Saint Paul Almanac).

DESCRIPTION

A Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu co-production

Prince Gomolvilas’THE BROTHERS PARANORMAL
Directed by Lou Bellamy

In response to a nationwide increase in sightings of “Asian- looking ghosts,” two entrepreneurial Thai-American brothers launch a ghost-hunting business. When the siblings investigate the home of an African American couple displaced by Hurricane Katrina, what’s real and what’s fantasy clash against a shocking truth. This witty and haunting story is brought to you in partnership by Theater Mu and Penumbra Theatre.

Event Details

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Event Details

A crew of intergenerational community editors have chosen the 10 poems and 10 artists whose work will be highlighted inside rocks that light up in the dark at Frogtown Farm this summer. Each artist will create visual art that is a reflection of a poem. The poem and artwork will be combined into a broadside poster for a total of 10 broadsides. The solar-powered rocks are being created by students at Imhotep Science Academy in Saint Paul.

The broadsides created will be celebrated on Saturday, May 25, at 7:30 p.m. at Poetry and Plants! in the Park in the Dark. At the party, each poet will read their poem and each artist will be asked to comment on their creative process. Frogtown Farm will be giving away seedlings too! We will have a beautiful meal and celebrate light and poetry and art and plants.

The public is invited, and we hope you can make it and spend some time basking in the beauty of Frogtown Farm.

Congratulations to all the selected poets and artists. And thank you to everyone who took the risk of submitting. It is a courageous thing to do and we encourage you to submit at every opportunity!

The project is made possible with the support of Knight Foundation through its Knight Arts Challenge, the McKnight Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the State’s arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.